Choosing a Side
by Curiosity
Summary: Spoilers for AWE. Norrington says yes on the Dutchman instead of no. NorringtonElizabeth.What she doesn't need is another dead hero...


Title: Choosing A Side  
Author: curiosity  
Pairing: Norribeth, because I love James, and always thought he deserved better.  
Rating: PG to PG13  
Warnings: Spoilers for AWE  
Summary: James says yes instead of no aboard the Dutchman. I suspect that the writers did what they did to James because, if they hadn't, this would have happened.

"Come with me," she says, holding out her hand. "James, come with me. Please." He looks into her eyes and reads what she doesn't say- that what she doesn't need is another dead hero, that if he tries to give her a speech about their tragic destinies, she'll hit him over the head and drag him with her anyway- that she might need him, after all.  
"Yes," he says, and takes her hand, and they jump together.

James stands beside her as she watches Davy Jones murder Will with his own sword. He holds her while she screams, and knows she is not just screaming for Turner, but for the life she has lost and the girl she has been. He mourns for that girl's loss also, but he marvels at the woman who has taken her place. James cannot help but remember the other times he has held her in his arms, happier times while he was turning her on the dance floor with sure steps as she made fun of the other officers and he pretended he wasn't amused at her cruel but accurate descriptions. He is a world away from any of that, now. He carries her back to the Black Pearl, where he sets her down and swipes her tears away with his thumb. She looks at him, really looks at him, for the first time since she fell in with pirates- though now, he has also fallen in with pirates.  
"I like you much better without the wig," she says, and gives him a small, brittle smile, trying to be strong. He loves her for it, as he always has, and wants to protect her, even though he knows that time is long gone. "You look younger. More like a pirate."  
"I may be a pirate," he says, "but I refuse to wear a ridiculous hat. That's not required, is it?" That wins him a laugh, and he feels his heart swell with something akin to happiness. He has almost forgotten what that feels like.

"What happened to us, James? We could have been happy together. I think I loved you, once." He knows she is saying these things because they are on the brink of total destruction, and most likely won't survive. So, instead of 'I still love you, don't ask me to stop loving you', he says what she wants to hear:  
"The man I was then would have suffocated you and your sense of freedom. You wouldn't have been happy with me."  
"You're not suffocating me now," she says quietly, and takes his hand. "You're a good man, James, at heart. I meet so few good men these days." She kisses his cheek. "Thank you."  
"For what?" He is genuinely confused.  
"For not giving up on me. Even when I did." She walks away to give orders to the crew, and he is left touching his cheek in wonder.

The Dutchman must have a captain. How convenient. Turner, James thinks resentfully, is like a cockroach who just won't die. Elizabeth is so pleased Turner's not dead, she'll have forgotten all about him. I can't do this, he thinks, turning away. But she touches him on the shoulder and says,  
"James. He'll only have shore leave for one day every ten years." She shakes her head in disbelief.  
"Not much of a marriage," he agrees, carefully. "What will you do the rest with of the time? Somehow, after this Pirate King business, I can't see you knitting baby clothes." Now comes the part where she says she could really use a friend in the intervening years, and he knows he'll agree even though it will break his heart not to be able to touch her as he wants to, love her as he longs to. The words never come. Instead she looks up at him anxiously.  
"I was hoping... if we survive... that you might be willing to... that is, I've come to appreciate the value of a man who truly... I find you comforting, but not just comforting, also brave and gentle and every so often there's this predatory gleam in your eye that Will never gets that's been driving me mad, and Jack's stupid compass never worked, or rather it worked too well, because it always pointed to you..." Her customary quickness of wit has deserted her entirely, and James Norrington feels a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, another sensation he has almost forgotten.  
"Elizabeth. Are you proposing that, aside from a conjugal visit to Mr.Turner once every ten years, you would consent to," he pauses, struggling for the words, "renewing our relationship?"  
"Yes. If you still want me. I know I've changed..." He quiets her with a kiss that goes on for quite some time.  
"Oh. So that's a yes, then."  
"Under normal circumstances, I don't share the women I love, but I think I can afford to be generous, considering the odds are rather in my favor."  
"I was hoping you'd see it that way."

Oh yes, he sees. He sees that he has ten years to win her over, by which time he plans to make her forget all about Will Turner.

"I don't know the first thing about piracy," James says, frowning. "I am completely at a loss on how to proceed."  
"I'll teach you," Elizabeth murmurs into his ear. "The first and most important rule is: take what you can. Give nothing back."  
"I'll put that into practice immediately." As the former commodore's eyes darken with desire, he claims her lips in a searing kiss and pulls his prize into the captain's quarters, locking the door behind him. Piracy, he thinks, has been deeply underrated.

Feedback always appreciated.


End file.
